Only Congress has the power to declare war

On Aug, 28, the Mercury ran a CNN video titled “Is North Korea Denuclearization Happening?” The video makes clear that this kind of diplomacy is a marathon, not a sprint. While it’s frustrating to deal with setbacks and delays, they’re part of the game.

What’s crucial is that we not blunder our way to war out of impatience, misunderstanding or badly timed tweets. War on the Korean peninsula, with or without nuclear weapons, would be a worse bloodbath than any living American has ever seen. The Pentagon has estimated that tens or hundreds of thousands would die in the first few days, even without nukes. They also tell us that the war would not be winnable without a full-scale ground invasion. The cost in American, Korean and allied lives would be almost unthinkable. This is not reality TV or real estate.

Article II of the Constitution grants Congress the power to declare war. It’s time for our lawmakers to demand that power back from our president, who’s unpredictable and impulsive even on his good days.

Two bills — S. 2047 (Senate) and H.R. 4837 (House) — forbid the president from launching a first strike against North Korea without congressional authorization absent an imminent threat.

Every Pennsylvanian should be calling our senators, Bob Casey and Pat Toomey, with this message: “Support S. 2047 and take back Congress’s power to declare war.” It’s time to put the adults in charge again.